NetOp Remote Control Changelog

What's new in NetOp Remote Control 12.82 Build 20071

Mar 25, 2020

Netop Remote Control version 12.82 for Windows introduces the new Confirm access via email*feature, whichworks as an alternative and complementary means to the Confirm accessfeature for unattended devices.The addition of the Confirm access via email*feature to the Confirm accessrole helps provide better security

New in NetOp Remote Control 12.80 Build 19303 (Nov 11, 2019)

New in NetOp Remote Control 12.76 Build 19080 (May 20, 2019)

New in NetOp Remote Control 10.50 Build 2011248 (Sep 21, 2011)

Blank screen:
The Blank Screen feature has been enhanced to provide better compatibility for Hosts running on Windows 7, Vista and Server 2008 including 64-bit versions.
If permitted, the Blank Screen feature allows the Netop Guest to turn off the signal to the monitor used by the Netop Host machine allowing the Guest to continue the remote control session without the end user viewing the activity.
This can prove useful in situations where system administration or support specific commands, shortcuts or accounts are utilized and should not be known to the end user.
To support these newer Windows operating systems, a new Netop Monitor driver is installed when the Blank Screen feature is used, providing this feature is permitted for use in the Guest access permissions as defined on the Host or the Security Server.
This is a one-time operation and will take a few moments to complete and, if successful, the Guest will be notified that the Black Screen feature is active. The Guest will also be notified when the blank screen has been deactivated. If any problems occur during the monitor driver installation, the Guest will also be notified.
Bind to a network interface:
When using Netop Remote Control applications on multi-homed machines, it is sometimes necessary to direct the Netop communication through a specific interface. In earlier versions this was only achievable by specifying a fixed IP address for the required network interface.
Version 10.5 improves this functionality by offering the option to bind Netop to a specific interface according to the network interfaces found by the operating system.
This change is much more manageable and conducive for today’s dynamic environments where the IP address often changes including VPN and virtual network environments.
The ability to bind Netop communication to a specific interface is available in the Advanced section of a TCP, UDP or HTTP communication profile (not including IPv6). The option is also applicable to various Netop Remote Control modules including Guest, Host, Gateway and Security Server.
Multiple WebConnect sessions:
Version 10.5 delivers the ability for the Guest to have multiple support sessions when using a WebConnect service and is no longer restricted to a single session.
The number of simultaneous sessions possible is dependent on the number of Connection Servers available within the WebConnect environment as each additional session will be directed through a different Connection Server. For example, if you use 3 Connection Servers, the Guest can have up to 3 simultaneous sessions with different Hosts.
This now offers more flexibility for busy support environments where multiple support sessions need to be running at the same time, i.e. file transfer with one Host whilst remote controlling a different Host.
The change is also applicable across applications, for example, the Guest can be connected to a Netop OnDemand Host whilst also connected to a traditional or mobile Host. In addition to using the version 10.5 Guest, you must also be using Connection Manager 1.8 (build 2011238 or above) for WebConnect to take advantage of this improvement.
Fixed issues:
Trying to use the Send or Receive Clipboard feature during a remote control session would result in an error reporting ’No supported formats’. The error was reported with Hosts running on Windows Server 2008 but could also occur with other Windows operating systems
During a remote control session, there appeared to be a delay when keystrokes were executed by the Guest. The issue was particularly noticeable when the Host was running on Windows Server 2008 R2.
The root authentication window was displayed in the background when accessing the Host Manager on a Mac Host. The authentication window will now be clearly visible when attempting to change the Host configuration
When attempting to authenticate a Guest using the RSA Agent 7.0.2, the Security Server would terminate with an error. This issue is resolved and requires an update to the Security Server only.
Using the ActiveX Guest (nguestx.ocx), mouse clicks were not replicated correctly on the Host machine during a remote control session.
After running an Inventory scan of a Host machine, the resulting XML file would incorrectly display the full 9.5 Host license key. The Inventory scan now displays the last six characters of the legacy license key
When using the Netop modules on Windows Server 2003 and 2008 with Terminal Services enabled, the NETOP.INI file was being read from the user profile location. This has now changed so the NETOP.INI file is read from the Windows directory
It was not possible to use the Root account on a machine running a 64-bit version of SUSE Linux. This would fail when trying to authenticate the Guest using the Root account or when trying to access the Host configuration settings
Once the ’Use current logon credentials for Windows authentication’ feature on the Guest had been enabled, the option could not be disabled
Upon connecting to a Linux Host using System Authentication, the Guest would receive an error message if the credentials were entered too quickly
If the Guest user switched to another application during a remote session, the main Guest application would always take focus when switching back to the remote session (remote control, file transfer, etc)
The Guest was not able to playback session recordings when these recordings had been generated by the Host. In order to playback recordings from a 10.x Host, the Guest must be running version 10 or above.
In some situations, it was not possible to use the keyboard in other applications on the Guest machine until the remote control window was minimized
When the Security Server was configured to use Sun Directory Services, the Guest would fail to authenticate
The Confirm Access feature would fail on a Linux Host when used with local System Authentication. The Guest would be able to connect to the Host with no notification. This is now resolved

New in NetOp Remote Control 10.00 Build 2011087 (Apr 6, 2011)

Screen transfer:
In order to offer our customers improved performance and experience when supporting their enterprise, a number of enhancements have been made to the core screen transfer technology used by Netop Remote Control.
These changes affect the Bitmap Mode screen transfer technology and will greatly improve performance when supporting Windows 7, Vista, Server 2008 and any Windows 64-bit operating system. A number of enhancements have also been implemented to improve performance on non-Windows platforms such as Linux and Mac.
Improved performance on Windows 7, Vista, 2008 and 64-bit systems
New compression algorithms for enhanced Bitmap Mode screen transfer
Better performance and stability using Command Mode with Linux & Mac (32-bit)
Enhanced Bitmap Mode for Linux & Mac (64-bit)
Bitmap Mode optimization settings for improved flexibility
The new optimization settings have been included within the Compression/Encryption tab under the Connection Properties on the Guest. These Connection Properties can be applied globally via the Quick Connect tab or for individual connections via the Phonebook tab.
These new settings will only be applicable when Bitmap Mode screen transfer is selected. By default, any connection to a Host machine running Windows 7, Vista, Server 2008 and any Windows 64-bit operating system will use Bitmap Mode as the preferred screen transfer method even when ‘Transfer Host screen as commands’ is selected.
Performance:
The slider has three options that range from better accuracy (Quality) to better performance (Speed). The centre option is a combination of the two. The default option will be set to best quality.
Quality:
More accuracy using a new lossless compression algorithm (default)
Centre:
Less accuracy but better performance using a JPEG compression ratio of 80
Speed:
Much less accuracy but much better performance using a JPEG compression ratio of 50
Note that the JPEG compression options must use ‘actual number of colors’ in the Guest connection properties in order to take effect. Reducing the color depth will revert to lossless (Best Quality) compression.
In order for the new options to take effect, the Guest and Host modules must be running version 10. When connecting to an older Host using Bitmap Mode, the original Bitmap Mode method will be used in order to provide backwards compatibility.
Organizational Units:
In order to offer more flexibility and better integration when using Active Directory authentication with Netop Security Server, the Role Assignment definitions have been extended to include Organizational Units (OUs).
The Security Server allows customers to centrally manage and control remote support access across their enterprise and authenticate Guest users via existing security models including Active Directory.
Using the Security Manager console, customers can now define Role Assignments containing Active Directory Organizational Units as Host objects.
Organizational Units with computer or user objects can be used depending on your chosen preferred Host type (Windows user and/or workstation) settings in Security Policies.
Security:
Active Directory Filter:
In order to improve usability when running the Netop Security Server within an Active Directory environment, a new search function is now available for use with any Active Directory object.
When defining Role Assignments using Guest or Host objects within the Security Manager, the user can easily locate the correct object within Active Directory without having to scroll through the entire Active Directory structure.
This new function will make it much quicker to locate the correct object particularly within much larger and complex Active Directory environments.
To locate the correct object, type the relevant search criteria into the LDAP filter field and press the Filter button. Netop will return all matching items according to your search criteria. The filter will work dynamically and return matching items immediately allowing you to select the correct object without waiting for the filter to complete its entire search through Active Directory. This is particularly useful if you are using much larger and/or multiple Active Directory environments.
The new filter functionality is optional and the possibility for manually browsing the Active Directory for the correct object is still available.
Using the filter will also improve the ability to locate objects within an Active Directory that has page size limitations. Active Directory controls the maximum number of objects that can be returned in a single search using LDAP and this value is set to 1000 objects, by default. If an Organizational Unit contains more than a 1000 objects, Netop will not display this container when manually browsing the Active Directory.
Security Server authentication:
In order to better support larger enterprise environments, some additional NETOP.INI file entries have been introduced to help prevent timeouts during the authentication process when using the Security Server particularly with larger Windows Domains.
Confirm Access password:
The maintenance password function has been extended to include the Confirm Access dialog. The maintenance password is traditionally used to prevent unauthorized changes being made to the Host application.
Using Confirm Access, the local user on the Host machine has the ability to allow or deny the remote session. In some situations, such as large industrial environments or senior executives within a large organization, the maintenance password is often known by the local Host user.
As an extra level of security and to help prevent unauthorized users from allowing the remote support session, the local user on the Host machine can now enter the maintenance password in the Confirm Access dialog before the remote session can begin.
A new Confirm access option has been added to the Maintenance Password settings on the Host. Once enabled along with a maintenance password, the local user will be prompted to enter the maintenance password before a remote support session can begin.
WebConnect:
To improve connectivity across the internet without the need to configure additional firewalls, the Linux & Mac Guest and Host modules now include support for Netop WebConnect.
With a few simple configuration changes, you can connect from and to your Linux & Mac systems using our hosted service or your own self-hosted WebConnect solution.
Just like the Windows Guest and Host, your Linux & Mac modules can take advantage of the WebConnect protocol switching technology allowing connections via the faster TCP protocol with automatic fallback to HTTP should the TCP connection fail for any reason.
For the Guest, the WebConnect settings are accessible by selecting the WebConnect communication profile in the Quick Connect tab. For the Host, the options are available through the Network Listen section of the Host Manager, which can be accessed via the Options button in the Host GUI toolbar.
HTTP:
To further extend the protocol support for the Linux and Mac platforms, the HTTP protocol is now available in addition to TCP, UDP and WebConnect.
For Linux and Mac, support for HTTP is currently available in the Host only.
For the Guest, the HTTP settings are accessible by selecting the HTTP communication profile in the Quick Connect tab. For the Host, the options are available through the Network Listen section of the Host Manager, which can be accessed via the Options button in the Host GUI toolbar.
Virtualization Support:
To better support Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environments, it is now possible to run and connect to the Netop Remote Control Host within an RDP (Remote Desktop) session.
Within a VDI environment, a virtualized desktop is normally delivered to an end user via an RDP session and when the Host is installed on the console, the virtual session can be remote controlled just like any other desktop using the preferred communication methods in Netop Remote Control.
There are currently some limitations with the RDP session protocol, which can lead to some issues when the RDP session is minimized.
If the RDP session is minimized during a remote control session, the Guest will not be able to control the RDP session until the window is restored. Similarly, if the Guest tries to remote control an RDP session which is already minimized, the Guest will be presented with a black screen until the RDP session is restored.
To further extend the compatibility with RDP (Remote Desktop) environments, the Netop Remote Control applications can now safely be installed on the console using an RDP session.
Previously, the Netop modules could only be successfully installed on the target system when working with the physical console.
It was previously possible to attempt a Netop installation via an RDP session, however the module would not function as expected and there was no indication to the user that the installation had been unsuccessful.
This improvement should ease the deployment of Netop applications in some cases and reduce support and troubleshooting when using RDP.
Log-off and Switch User:
The behaviour during log-off and switch user sequences has been improved in version 10, in order to provide a better customer experience.
When a Guest executes log-off or switch user on the Host machine during a remote control session, the Guest user will no longer be disconnected from the Host machine abruptly.
Although the Host application is still reloaded, the Guest will automatically reconnect to the Host without having to manually reconnect or manually enter their Netop authentication details.
File Manager Address Bar:
To improve usability, the File Manager has been extended to allow more flexibility when browsing and locating directories and files on both the Guest and Host machines.
Similar to Windows Explorer, the address bar can be edited allowing the user to type in the desired path rather than rely solely on browsing through the folder structure.
When the address bar is not highlighted, pressing the backspace key will take the user up one level through the directory structure.
Highlighting the entire string in the address bar and pressing the backspace or delete key will now remove the current string rather than move up one level through the directory structure.
Know issues fixed:
Upon closing the Netop Host, the status field would display incorrect terminology that is used in Netop School. The error appeared in all non-English editions of the Netop Host (53522)
The web update feature would fail on 64-bit operating systems for both Guest and Host, displaying an error code 0 message
After enabling the stealth mode feature on the Guest, the user was presented with an incorrect message reporting that a tool called ’nowutil’ should be executed to un-hide the Guest application. This has been revised to reference the correct tool called ’showgst’
When a Host was hidden using the stealth mode feature on a 64-bit operating system, it was not possible to un-hide the Host correctly
An error was found in the scripting feature that could allow arbitary code to be used and cause a buffer overflow (issue reported by chap0 at corelan.be)
If the Guest was not run with administrator privileges on a machine using User Account Control (UAC), the web update would fail with an ’Invalid output file specified’ error message. Any non-administrator user will now be shown a UAC prompt when launching the web update feature
The Host would fail to install when deployed using the Pack ’n Deploy utility. The installation would fail almost immediately and the log file would refer to an incorrect setup.exe file (54128)
Various issues were experienced when using the Netop Security Server with an Oracle database when case sensitivity was activated
When using the Security Server with a database running on DB2, the options defined in the Security Roles would not be maintained after a restart of the Security Manager (53408)